United States and Canada

Obama awards Medal of Freedom to Angela Merkel

By Barack Obama, the White House

From Barack Obama, the White House:  Growing up in communist East Germany, Angela Merkel dreamed of freedom.  And when the Wall finally crumbled and Germany was reunited, she broke barriers of her own, becoming the first East German — and the first woman — to become chancellor of Germany.

Russian, U.S. generals to discuss nuclear terrorism in Lisbon

By RIA Novosti

From RIA Novosti:  Russian and U.S. generals will meet in Lisbon in June to discuss cooperation between the two countries in fighting nuclear terrorism, the head of the Russian Military Commanders Club said on Wednesday.

U.S. confirms $50 million aid for Ukraine’s nuclear security program

By RIA Novosti

From RIA Novosti:  The United States has officially confirmed that it will render Ukraine $50 million to support the country’s nuclear security program.

Pentagon to stop funding a U.S.-European missile defense program

By Phillip Stewart and Andrea Shalal-Esa, Reuters

From Phillip Stewart and Andrea Shalal-Esa, Reuters:  The United States on Monday said it would stop funding a multibillion-dollar U.S.-European missile defense program known as MEADS after fiscal year 2013, calling it unaffordable in the current budget climate.

Marc Grossman to be new U.S. envoy to Afghanistan-Pakistan

By Mark Landler, the New York Times

From Mark Landler, the New York Times:  Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has chosen Marc Grossman, a retired senior diplomat and former ambassador to Turkey, as the Obama administration’s new special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, a senior State Department official said Monday.

Cuts in European defense budgets raise concerns for U.S., NATO

By Michael Birnbaum, the Washington Post

From Michael Birnbaum, the Washington Post:  [S]ome top officials, including the U.S. defense secretary and the NATO secretary general, worry that the changes could burden the United States by reducing the number of European troops available for NATO missions and other military efforts around the world.

The Value of the Visegrad Four

By Adrian Basora

In an issue brief titled “The Value of the Visegrad Four,” former U.S. Ambassador to Czechoslovakia and the Czech Republic Adrian Basora examines the recently reinvigorated Visegrad Group–a regional grouping of Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic–as a possible channel for U.S.-Central European relations. Download the PDF

NATO allies concerned about nuclear weapons in Kaliningrad

By Vanessa Gera, the AP

From Vanessa Gera, the AP:  Rose Gottemoeller, the chief U.S. negotiator of New START, visited Poland, Ukraine and the three Baltic states in recent days to hear how these countries view the issue of tactical weapons.

Leaked cables show US used informer in NATO chief’s office

By DPA

From DPA:  NATO staff under the command of both the current NATO chief, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, and his predecessor Jaap de Hoop Scheffer supplied information to authorities in the US, according to the cables released by the whistleblower website WikiLeaks.

Joint Forces Command to be shut down by March 2012

By Robert McGabe, the Virginia Pilot